


A Family Thing

by Tipper



Category: Sneaky Pete (TV)
Genre: Family, Family Dynamics, Gen, Missing Scenes, Shorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-20 08:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14891474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tipper/pseuds/Tipper
Summary: A series of short stories – moments during Marius’ first week with the family "just, you know, stuck in among the zinnias."





	1. CHORES

**Author's Note:**

> Marius, I imagine, hasn't had much experience with family dynamics, which explains why things like those lovely family dinners has such an affect on him. I couldn't help but think of a few more. I know in a show this compact it is difficult to add even the shortest of possible missing scenes, but I figured...what the hell. I've written three so far. I might do more for Season 2...(the second week?).
> 
> Oh, and you win all the awards if you can name the movie quote in the summary. Of course, only to Marius would moments like these hold any real danger.

Another long night, his third in a row since leaving prison, meant that Marius was actually sleeping pretty heavily when he felt someone shake his shoulder. Normally, he was a light sleeper, the result of years of never knowing whether he or Eddie were safe wherever they were. For some reason, though, after stumbling back to the farmhouse at whatever god-awful time in the morning and talking to Carly out by the barn, he’d collapsed like the dead. Maybe it'd been the weed. 

Since it rarely happened that he slept that deeply, the touch to this shoulder sent him flailing away in panic. He all but threw himself off the bed on the far side, eyes crazed and hands raised in a defensive posture.

Carly stared at him, her own eyes wide, clearly as startled by his over-reaction as he’d been by her.

“Damn,” she said, half-smiling, half-scared. “What happened to you in a previous life?”

He quickly forced a smile, even though he was raging underneath at her for taking what few hours of sleep he could afford. He lowered his hands and rested them on his hips, trying to ignore the growing headache behind his eyes.

“What do you want, Carly?” he asked, his voice rough from sleep.

"Seriously," she said, "you sure you're okay? I mean, that was sort of intense."

He rubbed a hand down his exhausted face and sighed.

“Okay, look," he said, "it’s, what…?” He checked the time. “4:00 in the morning?” The rage was back; he couldn’t help it. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He’d only gotten two hours of sleep!

“Keep your voice down!” she whispered urgently, pointing at his bedroom wall. “They’re just on the other side, remember?”

He threw a stare to say that, yes, he remembered, and she better fucking get on with it.

“Right,” she said, and she actually blushed slightly. “So, there’s something I didn’t tell you yesterday.”

He frowned. “About…what? The safe?”

It was her saving grace, the only reason he wasn’t kicking her out right this second. She’d told him there was $150,000 in the safe last night. That money could not only save Eddie, but could provide the basis for the Turk to actually be possible. He’d gone to bed hopeful for the first time since he’d realized just how troubled the family was, and he really, really hoped she wasn’t going to take it away.

“No,” she said, blushing some more. “About the beater in the barn. That’s why I was out there. I thought you were checking it out when you were inside.”

He frowned. He’d forgotten about that. When he’d told Audrey that he’d borrowed the truck yesterday, the night he’d clocked Sam tailing him, Audrey had said he could borrow the “beater” in the barn. He’d not actually needed to yet, getting rides from Julia or taking the train to the city, but he had checked it out. Not the most attractive of cars. But, of course, the real reason he’d been in the barn was to phone Marjorie and the others about the con.

Carly, luckily, didn’t know that.

“You must have seen it,” she said. “The car.”

He shrugged. “Yeah?”

“So you saw the headlight and the dent?”

He had. Audrey had called it a beater, so it made sense that it would look beaten up. He nodded.

“Thing is,” Carly whispered. “Those dents are my fault. I was practicing driving it one afternoon when no one was around, because I figure it’ll be mine someday, and I kinda ran it into one of the stalls in the barn. Broke the headlight and dented the fender. I covered it up with a tarp, so grandma and grandpa don’t know yet, but…when they see the damage on the car….” She looked stricken.

He just raised an eyebrow. “And why is this my problem?”

“It’s not…yet,” she said.

His eyes narrowed. “Explain the ‘yet.’”

“When grandma and grandpa were out last week, I tried to start the car so I could move it back a bit from where I’d done the damage to the stall, but it won’t start. I don’t know why not.”

He sighed. Ah.

“And…” she said, looking sheepish, “if you don’t help me fix it, I might mention to Grandma and Grandpa that you went out again last night. And that you might have done the damage to the car and the stall yourself.”

He lifted his head. “I see,” he said. “That’s your play, is it?”

She shrugged. “It’s all I’ve got right now. My somewhat secretive cousin comes back to town -- who knows how good a driver he actually is?”

“I thought you wanted me to stay?” he challenged. After all, it’s what she’d said last night.

Instantly, her face fell. “I do.”

“Then why threaten me?”

“I… I wasn’t trying to threaten.” She licked her lips. “It was meant to be an incentive, you know, to help me out?”

“You’re incentivizing me to leave instead.”

She actually looked worried. “Please,” she said, “if that’s true, then pretend I didn’t say anything about telling them you did it. And I won’t say anything about those tense calls you keep making. I just…” She bit her lip, as if desperate, pausing for effect (Marius had to admit, she could be pretty good at this if she worked on it some more). “I just need your help to fix the car and the barn before they find out.”

He sighed. To be honest, the car could be useful. It was gray and nondescript; it’d be invisible out on the streets if he needed it. And, frankly, Carly could be real trouble, because she was so intensely nosy. Perhaps helping her out wouldn’t be the worst thing if it meant she warmed up to him some more. He needed allies.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll help you. But I don’t know the first thing about fixing cars.”

She grinned. “You don’t need to. Taylor does. He’s always fixing up that car of his. He’s already looked at it and is going to bring what he thinks we’ll need to fix it in about half n’ hour. Julia’s coming too. Since Jake and Ellen are already here, she spent the night, which means she can help fix the stall.”

He couldn’t help it, he was surprised. Julia and Taylor hadn’t seemed that warm towards their little sister. 

“Why would they help you?”

“Because they love me?” she suggested. Then she smirked. “Okay, to be honest, I had to promise Julia a ton of babysitting hours, and Taylor will do most anything I ask him so long as I don’t talk about mom and dad…” Her smile grew a bit strained. “But, you know, they’re also my sister and brother, so…they have to help me out. It’s a sibling thing.” She shrugged. “Or, with your help, a family thing, I guess.”

Marius huffed, thinking a little about Eddie. He supposed he understood helping out your siblings, though, with Eddie, it had been more than just helping him out -- it had been protecting and raising him as well.

He sighed. “So when is this happening?”

“Now. Like I said, Taylor’s going to be here soon with the parts. Julia’s already down in the barn, assessing the damage. I came to get you. Do you need to change?”

He looked down at his shirt and boxers, then gave her a look.

She just grinned. “Right. I’ll see you down there. With any luck, we’ll get it all done before Grandma and Grandpa even wake up.” She turned to bounce out of the room, and then turned and smiled.

“Thanks, Pete,” she said.

He just sighed again as she disappeared out the door and tried not to think about how tired he was.  
_____________________________

When he got to the barn, it was fully lit against the still dark night and Julia and Carly were already arguing softly next to the car.

He hadn’t really gotten a good look at it before, just that it was a Ford sedan and it was gray, but as he rounded the front he noticed the broken headlight, dented front bumper and something was definitely leaking out of the engine. Radiator, probably.

“Hey,” he called softly. Carly smiled, while Julia just lifted her eyebrows.

“I’m surprised she actually managed to get you out here,” Julia said, smirking slightly. “I wouldn’t have thought of you as a morning person.”

It’s true, he wasn’t. Honestly, he hated pretty much everything about mornings. He hated the sounds, like the needy pigeons chirping for food on the sill in the pre-dawn or the endless beeping of garbage trucks backing up in the city streets. He hated how cold and dreary they felt, like the world might actually be dead but no one had noticed yet. And he especially hated the smell. The morning always smelled like regret and fear to him, the combination of that moment of sober reflection after a night of drinking and gambling and the tinny apprehension over what might be coming the next day to beat you down. 

And it was also the time of day he always felt his most vulnerable. 

Actually, he fucking hated mornings. 

But he faked a smile anyway. 

“How could I resist Carly’s invitation,” he offered. “She asked so nicely.”

Julia laughed. “Blackmail or promises?” she asked.

“Hey!” Carly said, with mock offense.

But Marius just continued to smile and leaned over to look under the open hood of the car, to see what he could see. He hadn’t been kidding. Other than how to hotwire older model cars, he honestly didn’t know that much about them. You didn’t usually need a car in New York City. 

“I think it’s a hose,” Julia said over his shoulder.

“Uh huh,” he said. 

“It is a hose,” Taylor’s voice confirmed from somewhere behind Marius. “And a small crack in the radiator.” 

Marius turned to see his other new cousin walk inside with a large duffel over his shoulder. Taylor grinned at him, bounding the last few steps to drop the duffel and punch Marius in the arm.

“Just like old times, eh?” he asked Marius, who was rubbing his now stinging arm.

Marius just smiled thinly. That punch had hurt, damn it. 

“You remember!” Taylor said. “All those times my dad used to drag us out here to show off his car? He’d preach to us about engines and parts until our ears bled. It was like having to go to school after school!”

“Oh,” Marius said, looking at the engine again. “That.”

“Not that you were ever any help,” Taylor said, punching him again more lightly this time, and Marius found a solution to the question he knew Carly was about to ask.

“I thought you said you didn’t know anything about cars?” Carly said, her gaze narrowing.

Yup. There it was.

“I don’t,” Marius said, shrugging. “I mean, sure, your dad used to point things out, but most of it went in one ear and out the other. I spent most of that time day-dreaming.”

“True that,” Taylor said with a mock sigh. “He’d stare out the barn door with such longing, it was like a prisoner looking out a cell window.”

Marius smiled, grateful that he’d read that right. 

“Well, he’s not doing that now,” Carly said, crossing her arms. “We have about an hour and a half to fix this car and fix that stall before grandma and grandpa wake up, and fix it we shall.” 

She pointed to what was clearly once the wall of a horse stall a few feet away, covered in a tarp and bits of blanket. It didn’t look broken. Marius was about to say as much when she walked over and pulled the coverings off – revealing a massive hole in the wood. The stall’s brace was also clearly barely holding on. 

“Oooh,” Julia said. “I knew you behind the wheel would be dangerous.”

“I was only practicing! If someone might have spent time teaching me like they promised…” Carly stared pointedly between her siblings.

“Yeah, yeah,” Taylor said, “attempts to use a guilt trip to cover up your stupid mistake aside, do you have what you need to fix the wall?”

Carly nodded, pulling aside a few more tarps to reveal wood, paint and saws.

Marius sighed. God, he hated manual labor. Julia giggled then, and when he looked, he saw she was looking at him.

“Seriously, Pete,” she said, “you look like someone just told you that you’d lost a bet.” She chuckled again, walking over to pick up the saw. “I promise, it won’t be that bad.”

“It might even be fun!” Taylor said, grinning from ear to ear like the idiot he clearly was. Marius still wasn’t sure he wasn’t on some sort of upper. Who was that maniacal?

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his head. “Fun.”

“Come on, Cousin Pete,” Carly said, taking his arm to draw him closer to the wood and paint. “How hard can it be?”

He just sighed again, but threw on the fake smile again. If he was going to be forced into helping, he may as well use it for more intel.

“So,” he said, as he picked up another saw, “how about telling me some more stories about what I’ve missed these last twenty years?”

Julia grinned, glanced at Taylor, and said, “Well, you remember that asshole of a bus driver who’d take us to summer school? The one with the big head?”

Marius frowned, pretending to remember. “You mean…?”

“Greg,” Taylor supplied, already pulling things out of his duffel bag, including what were clearly new hose lines, connectors and a headlight.

“Right, Greg! He had that thing…” Marius gestured to his head.

“Oh my god, the mole! Yes! On his chin. Oh, that thing creeped me out!” Julia said. She shuddered. “Oh, it still does, just remembering it!”

“It had hairs growing out of it,” Marius added, because gross moles almost always did. 

“And it was bubbly,” Taylor said, shuddering as well. “Looking back, I don’t get why he didn’t just grow a beard.”

“Or cut the hairs,” Julia said.

“Did he drive me?” Carly asked. She was measuring the hole in the stall with a measuring tape.

“Oh, no, you had that guy, the one no one would remember, because he was nice.”

Marius had to smile at that. It was true. People never remembered the nice people. 

“So what happened to him?” Marius asked.

“Taylor,” Julia said, smirking slightly, “had been forced by Greg to sit in the front seat one day because he was, to quote Greg, being a complete jerk.”

“I called him a megalomaniac. I’d just learned the word, and wanted to use it,” Taylor said. “That and all these synonyms. I thought I was being really clever.”

“What’s so bad about the front seat?” Carly asked as she wrote the measurements she’d taken down on paper.

“The front seat in the bus was broken, so, to sit there meant sitting on a bar, which would hurt after a few nasty bumps,” Taylor said. “Greg liked to use it as punishment.”

“So, next day, Taylor managed to stay on the bus, hiding behind one of the seats, instead of going into school with the rest of us, and, somehow, Greg didn’t notice. He just drove the bus back to the yard, and went off to get breakfast or something.”

“I then put a ton of glue on the seat,” Taylor said, “really sticky, clear stuff. And since it was summer, it stayed kinda wet until Greg came back to drive the bus back to the school. He didn’t notice until we got there when he tried to get up and found he was stuck to the seat. Everyone was filing back on board, and he was grunting and swearing, trying to sit up….”

“So Taylor called him some more names,” Julia said then. “To get him angry.”

“And he ripped the back of his pants off to get to me!” Taylor said, laughing now. 

“And he had apparently decided to go commando that day!” Julia added. "Oh, so many more moles! The horror, the horror! My poor eyes!" She threw her arm over them, pretending to swoon, and Carly burst into laughter.

“Revenge is sweet!” Taylor said, grinning. Carly was grinning and even Marius couldn’t help but smile; it was a good story.

“Tell him about Mrs. Levinson!” Julia said then.

“Oh, now that,” Taylor said, “that was something! Hey, Pete, can you give me a hand getting this old hose off?” He reached into the car, and Marius went to join him. “Now," Taylor said, "You remember, Mrs. Levinson, right? The old bat who made us read Ol’ Yeller because it would make us, what, hate life?”

Marius laughed as he reached into the engine. “That book gave me nightmares!”

“Fuck yes,” Taylor grinned. “I couldn’t even look at a dog without bursting into tears for like a week. Who does that to a 9 year old!”

Marius just laughed again, and, curiously, it wasn’t forced. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.  
___________________________________

The sun was just cresting the horizon as they finished, flooding the barn with rays of dusty golden light through the wooden slats. They were all covered in bits of oil, paint and wood stain, but, miraculously, the stall was fully rebuilt and the car – while still dented – ran just fine. Taylor had even managed to hammer most of the dent in the bumper out, which was kind of amazing.

But even more amazing, at least for Marius, was the fact that he’d actually had a good time. To his utter amazement, he'd had _fun_. He’d not laughed like that in, honestly, he couldn’t remember how long. Certainly not in prison, and maybe not for a while before that either. A strange sort of euphoria had come over him, a dangerous feeling of liberation, as he'd listened to and laughed at their stories. He even told a few of his own from his teenage years – with names and places made up, of course – and grinned as the others erupted in gales of laughter. Julia had flicked paint at him, and he’d flicked some back, while Carly complained about paint on the floor and Taylor responded by flicking her with old oil. She’d squealed, turned and ran into a piece of wood Julia had been hefting, and Marius had almost fallen down he was laughing so hard. 

Maybe he’d just been punchy, exhausted from everything that was happening combined with lack of sleep. Or maybe he still had some of Carly's weed in his system, he didn't know. Still, as they’d cleaned up, he couldn’t stop smiling. Carly had even hugged him briefly, to thank him, and he hadn’t flinched away.

Julia’s baby monitor went off as they were finishing, and the older sister ran off, back up to the house to check on the clearly waking Jake and Ellen. Carly and Taylor followed soon after, both needing showers – she to go to school, and he to get ready for work. 

Marius was the last to leave the barn, shutting the doors behind and resting a hand against the wood. It was slowly warming from the just rising sun, the flaking white paint rough under his fingers. 

“How did it go?” Otto’s voice asked softly, and Marius jumped. The euphoria instantly went away, and he tried to bring his panicked expression under control.

“What?”

Otto was standing a few feet away, his hair tousled from the morning and a tiny smile on his face.

“Fixing the stall and the car,” he said. “That’s what you were all doing in there, yes?”

“Um…” Marius looked up at the barn, his normally quick brain failing him for once. 

“It’s okay, Pete,” Otto said, smiling now and walking over to pat him on the shoulder and then leaving it there. “I saw the damage about a week ago. I know it was Carly. I’m not going to tell Audrey. She probably knows, but in case she doesn’t, I don’t mind letting Carly off the hook on this one.”

Marius’ brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Because I haven’t heard them laugh like that in a long time.” The hand on Marius’ shoulder squeezed. “I was out here, fetching eggs for breakfast, and I saw you through the window and… Man, I loved seeing you all like that, altogether again, like when you were kids.” He shrugged slightly. “I’d forgotten how much I’ve missed it. It's like you’ve reminded them what family means." Then he smiled. “And you've reminded me too. I have to thank you for that.”

Marius just ducked his head, not sure how to respond to that. He barely knew what family meant himself, so it was odd to be thanked for it. He loved Eddie, and would do anything for him, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed that much with him. It was…yeah, it’d felt good. 

"I’m really glad you’ve come home, Pete," Otto said then. 

Marius tried to reply in kind, to say he was glad to be there, but the words stuck in his throat. Otto seemed to understand, because he then said something else then about seeing him in the kitchen for breakfast and was already walking away, headed towards the chicken coop.

Marius watched him go, then headed up to the house to shower. The sun was still very low in the sky, painting the farm in rose gold, the patches of snow on the ground melting as the crocuses and daffodils pushed their way upwards. The warmth of the coming day was chasing away the chill of the night, and it felt nice.

Maybe mornings weren’t so terrible after all.


	2. THE PARKING SPOT

Marius wasn’t really thinking about what he was doing as he slid the car into the parking spot outside the bail bonds office. His mind was a hundred miles away, thinking about Eddie and Karolina, hoping Eddie’s arm wasn’t as bad as it sounded and praying that Karolina would talk to Marjorie before it was too late. His brother had begged him to let him escape; Marius wished he could see a way that they could actually do that without having to run for the rest of their lives. But, Christ, hearing the terror in Eddie's voice, and then having to run away from those assholes outside Bagwell's office...what if it all went wrong? What if he'd made a terrible mistake?

It wasn’t until he parked and opened the door that he realized someone was loudly honking and yelling…at him.

He stopped, blinking in confusion at the angry man climbing out of the cab of his black Ford F-350 where it was sitting in the middle of the street. The man slammed the door and marched up to him.

“Hello?” Marius said, looking around and trying to figure out what the problem was.

“You took my spot,” the man growled. “You saw me waiting for it, and you just swooped in and stole it.”

Actually, he hadn’t. He had seen the person leaving the parking spot – it could be difficult to find a place to park in the center of town when it was lunch hour, as it was – and he’d simply taken it. If the man in the Ford had been waiting, though, he genuinely hadn’t noticed him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But, look, there’s a spot right there…” He pointed to an empty parking spot two cars up.

“I don’t want that spot,” the man said. “I wanted this spot. You stole it.”

Marius frowned. For once, he hadn’t stolen anything. “I…okay…look, let me just grab something from right in there…” He pointed at the bail bonds office behind him. “And I’ll be right out. You can have this spot.”

“I’m not waiting for you. Move your stupid truck now.”

Marius glanced at Audrey’s old GMC, classic and useful, and thought how she’d never have called it stupid and smirked slightly.

“Look,” he said, “I get that you’re angry, but I swear, I didn’t see you. It will really only be a sec, I just—“

“Move it now!” the man yelled, getting even further into Marius’ personal space and Marius’ defensive instincts kicked in. He threw up his hands and backed away, noticing for the first time just how large the other man was: maybe six two, balding, with powerful arms and sweat pouring down his temples even though it was barely 50 degrees outside. His eyes were wide and his hands gripped into fists – he was priming for a fight. 

“Okay, okay,” he said, hands still raised. This man was clearly already angry, probably at something else, and was using Marius as release. “I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot here.” He gave a small smile. “It’s just a parking space.”

“Punks like you is what’s wrong with this country,” the big man said. “No respect.”

“Right, sure,” Marius said, nodding. “I’m a punk. Okay. I’ll move the truck.” He stepped to the side in order to reach the GMC, but the other man was right in front of him now, shoving at his chest. Marius backed up again, hands still raised. 

“Okay, look, I can’t do anything if you don’t let me get back into the truck.” He tried his most reasonable voice, but whatever had really set this man off, reason wasn’t working. 

At the same time, because the man’s truck was still in the street and now blocking traffic, someone else laid on their horn, annoyed at being blocked. It just fueled the man’s anger more, and Marius grimaced. He’d seen this in prison—he had to find a way out of this stupidity.

“Look,” Marius said, “no one wants trouble.”

"You sure seem to."

"I promise I don't."

“Then you shouldn’t have taken my spot.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Marius said, unable to hide his annoyance, “I didn’t take your damned spot! I didn’t see you!”

“Like hell!” the man said, moving forward again and Marius almost tripped on the curb behind him.

“Damn it, back off!” Marius said furiously. “I’ll move the truck if you let me!”

“Something wrong, Pete?” Otto’s voice called out from behind him. Marius turned to glance at him, and as he turned back, a fist slammed across his jaw before he knew what was happening.

His vision blacked out briefly as he spun bodily with the hit, and he ended up on his knees.

“Fuck,” he muttered, wiping at the wetness on his chin and finding blood. He looked up, expecting to see the bastard standing over him, ready to deliver more pain.

He was surprised instead to find Otto standing between him and the big man. Otto’s hands were gripped into fists, his whole face red with anger.

“You going to hit me, now?” Otto’s voice challenged. “Gonna hit an old man, is that what you’re going to do?”

Marius blinked, confused by what was happening.

“What’s going on here?” Taylor’s voice called, and Marius’ eyebrows lifted at the sight of Taylor jogging quickly down the street in his officer’s uniform. Taylor looked furious, and Marius stumbled back to his feet, his instincts telling him to run before the police got here.

“Um…” Marius began, but then there was a hand on his arm, helping him straighten up, and he found himself looking at Julia. She was glaring at the man who had hit him.

“This asshole,” Otto charged, “sucker-punched Pete!” He was still staring down the big man. “Over, what? A parking space?”

“He stole it!” the man said. “I’d been waiting!”

“What’s wrong with that space?” Otto demanded, pointing to the one Marius had pointed out before. “Too far of a walk to the steroid store?”

The big man growled, advancing on Otto, only for Taylor to suddenly be there, his hand on his chest. Taylor wasn’t a short man, but even he looked small in front of the behemoth that had hit Marius. At the same time, there was something clearly very dangerous in Taylor that, despite the size difference, had the other man hesitating.

“You better rethink what you’re about to do,” Taylor warned him quietly. “You really think this is going to end well for you?”

Marius tried to understand what had just happened, and what was still happening. Standing between him and the man who had hit him were Otto and Taylor, and Julia was by his side, all three of them fully protecting him. 

It was…different. In his life, he couldn’t actually remember a time when anyone had stepped in to protect him. Ever.

The big man, meanwhile, was also coming to the realization that he was not only outnumbered, but that one of the people facing him down was a cop. Still red-faced and sweating, but no longer quite as belligerent, he finally took a step back from the group.

“He knows what he did,” he growled. “It was wrong. You’re protecting the wrong person.”

“I’m protecting my grandson, you ass-hat,” Otto said. “And I saw what happened. You didn’t use a signal, how was he supposed to know what you doing? Maybe you should consider that before you start punching people.”

“I—“

“Even if you had been waiting,” Taylor said, his voice even, “it’s not actually illegal to take a spot someone’s waiting for. But it _is_ illegal to punch someone. Pete, here, could easily press charges. Pete?” He looked at him over his shoulder. “You want press charges?”

It had the desired effect. The redness drained from the big man’s face, and he took another step back, clearly worried now. 

Marius mentally shook himself from the odd stupor he’d fallen into, and quickly shook his head. 

“Uh, no. No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” 

“You’re bleeding,” Julia said, frowning as she gently touched his jaw. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking at her, then to the stranger. “It’s fine.”

The big man gave him a grateful look. 

“In that case,” Taylor said to the stranger, “I suggest you move on. Maybe consider driving away and coming back later, huh? I don’t think you’re much welcome on this bit of main street right now.”

The big man nodded quickly, then, almost amusingly, flashed a smile at Marius as if they were now friends, and then jogged back to his truck. In moments, he had the large vehicle’s engine roaring as he pulled away, disappearing swiftly down the road. 

Soon, all the traffic that had piled up as a result of the mess was also gone, as if the event had never happened. The only sign that it had was the fact that he had three members of his “family” now looking at him with concern. Well, Taylor’s expression was already shifting to amusement, but Otto and Julia still looked worried.

“You really alright there, son?” Otto asked, peering at Marius’ jaw. “That punch was nasty.”

“Yeah,” Marius said, his instincts still wanting him to get some space between them and him, “some ice and I’ll be right as rain.”

“I’ll go get some from Moe’s,” Otto said. “Julia, take him inside. Bet he could use some water.”

“Or something stronger,” Taylor suggested with a smirk. 

“There’s some whiskey in the back,” Julia explained as Marius arched an eyebrow. “Come on.”

“You know,” Taylor said, following them into the office for goodness knows why, “you’ve not even been here a few days, cuz, but you’re already doing a bang up job introducing yourself to the people of Bridgeport. Do you make friends that quick everywhere you go?”

“Nah,” Marius shot back. “Usually I like to introduce myself by throwing a bag over their head and locking them in a trunk first. That’s much more endearing.”

“Au contraire,” Julia said airily as she went to get some clean mugs from the back, “that’s not a sign of friendship, that’s a sign of love!”

“Of course, it is,” Taylor agreed, grinning now. “It's a family thing. All’s fair when it’s family! Pete gets it, don’t you?”

Marius actually found himself grinning as well, and not because he had to. 

“I don’t, actually,” he said. “But I’m beginning to appreciate it.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, a warning sign flashed.

Because that hadn’t been a lie.


	3. The Party

“I’m sorry, what?” Marius asked, staring at Julia like she had two heads.

“It’s just for a couple of hours,” she said, her tone pleading. “Saturday morning, 10 am. I promise, you won’t have to stay long, but you do need to come.” She was nodding, as if that would help convince him that this wasn’t the most horrible request anyone had ever asked of him.

“Um…” Marius looked around the table at the rest of the family, and found every single pair of eyes on him. It was a test. This was a test. Oh god. “I’m just not really the kind of person who goes to those kinds of things.”

“She specifically asked if her new cousin Pete was going to be there,” Julia said. “You can’t say no.”

“Except I can,” Marius replied. “I don’t think—“

“There should be time, Pete,” Audrey interjected, “before the meeting we have at noon. You know, the one with your friend coming by?”

“Uh, yeah,” Marius said, his eyes wide as he tried to signal to the matriarch that this was a really bad idea and she needed to step in. “But no. I mean, we may need to set things up, plan…things, um….”

“You’re coming,” Julia said, as if it were final.

“Julia,” Marius pleaded, “I really don’t think I’d—“

“You’re coming,” she said again, standing up from the table and staring down at him. “It’s the law.”

The law. Oh good god. Ironically, he wondered if Vince putting a bullet in his head might be less of a horror than what was to come on Saturday morning.  
______________________________

“Uncle Pete!” Ellen squealed, throwing herself into his legs and nearly bowling him over as he entered the house. “You’re here! You’re here!”

He looked at Julia’s shit-eating grin, knowing she was enjoying this immensely, as Ellen twisted to get a sticky hand into his. 

“Come with me! You have to see what I got!”

“Okay,” he said somewhat numbly as she marched him towards a pile of presents in the middle of the room. Other pint-sized, melon-headed midgets watched him somewhat warily, as did their parents, as Ellen tugged and pulled until he was standing next to what was a massive pile of mostly pink colored wrapping paper.

“This is Dora,” Ellen said, lifting up a doll with a massive head. “She’s an explorer.”

“Is she now,” Marius said, wondering if his terror was as palpable to the others as it was to him. 

“And this is Elsa!” Ellen added, throwing another doll in his face. “She can turn you to ice.”

“Uh huh,” Marius said, glancing at the others. The other kids had already returned to playing with their own toys and games, while the parents were standing around drinking out of solo cups. He wondered what was in them, and if it was alcoholic, because he could really use some of that right now.

“And this is Elsa’s castle,” Ellen continued, tugging on Pete’s hand to get his attention back. “It’s not the real castle. That’s made of ice and is on the side of a mountain, and this one’s just plastic but it looks like this. Look, you can open the doors and the top comes off!”

“So it does,” Marius said, trying to sound interested. He realized Ellen didn’t actually care, she just liked showing off. She grabbed for another present and then looked up him. A tiny eyebrow shot up, and she pointed at the floor next to her.

“You should sit!” she said then. It wasn’t a request, it was a command. 

“Yes,” Julia said, bouncing Jake on her hip a couple feet away. “You should sit, Uncle Pete.”

He threw a glare at her, but, because he genuinely didn’t know what else to do, he sat down cross-legged next to Ellen. 

For the next few minutes, she handed him presents so that he could see what she got, explaining everything with a remarkable level of detail and, so it seemed, without pausing to take a breath more than once or twice in the long, long, long descriptions she was using. He smiled as best he could and pretended to look interested. 

“Did you get me a present?” she asked then, once she’d clearly finished the inventory.

“Um, yes,” he said, and he pointed to where he’d left it by the door. It was a large pink bag in which he’d put a Moana doll, because, apparently, Moana was the latest Disney princess and, per the girl at the store, everyone loved Moana. Ellen shrieked in delight and demanded that “Mommy” get it for her so that "Pete" couldn’t move. 

Marius couldn’t help but compare this to a little like being in prison. 

Julia dutifully got the present and handed it to Ellen, who tore it open and then squealed happily as she pulled Moana out. Then she attacked the plastic, but grew quickly frustrated. She practically threw the package at Marius.

“Get her out!” she demanded.

Marius, still quite terrified by all this, found himself desperately trying to do as he was asked, but quickly found that taking a doll out of a package was a lot more difficult than, frankly, it should be. She was held in place with what seemed like dozens of tiny pieces of plastic. Julia, at some point, handed him scissors, which helped, but, honestly, he was pretty sure he could break into a bank vault faster than it was taking him to remove this damned doll from its packaging.

“He’s my new cousin, my new Uncle Pete,” he heard Ellen telling one of her friends proudly. “He belongs to me, now. Momma says he’s family, so that means I can order him around as much as I like.”

Behind him, Julia burst out laughing, and Marius glared up at her.

“You told her that?” he said, still struggling with the doll.

“No,” Julia said, still laughing. “I really didn’t. It’s just how she thinks. I think she might be turning into a mini-Audrey.”

At that same moment, by some miracle, Moana was freed from the plastic, and he grinned, turning and presenting her to Ellen. The little girl smiled and reached out, only to look over his shoulder and squeal again.

“Uncle Taylor!” she screamed, shoving Marius and Moana aside so she could accost the newest victim to the party.

“Hi Pumpkin,” Taylor said, his voice strained. Marius took the opportunity to quickly get back to his feet, laying Moana on the ground next to Elsa and the castle. Across the room, he met Taylor’s eyes, and felt a sudden powerful sense of comradery, because Taylor looked as terrified as he was. 

Julia was still chuckling, talking to one of the other mothers now. The women were both looking at him and Taylor out of the corner of their eyes, and giggling.

Somehow, perhaps because Taylor wasn’t as exciting as “new Uncle Pete,” Taylor got off easy as Ellen went off to take charge of what looked like a game of dominoes. He quickly made his way over to Marius, climbing over the debris in Julia’s living room, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder as they edged away from the heart of the birthday party. 

Taylor handed Marius a flask, which Marius took gratefully.

“Horrible, isn’t it?” Taylor asked quietly as Marius took a belt – whiskey, thank god.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it,” Marius admitted, handing the flask back. “Are they all like this?”

“Oh, yeah. I keep thinking they’re going to get more bearable, but I think each one is worse than the last.”

“Julia looks like she’s got a good handle,” Marius said.

“Julia’s a very good actress. She also gets great joy out of watching all of us squirm. Wait ‘til Grandma and Grandpa get here – I give Grandma about ten minutes before she’s making up some emergency at the office. Grandpa’s got more stamina, but Grandma…not so much.” He glanced at Marius and, for a moment, looked a bit sad. “You might remember that some.”

Marius just gave a shrug. From what Pete told him, yeah, Audrey’s patience for kid’s parties was not her strong suit. Then again, have not actually experienced one himself, if they were all like this, he really couldn’t blame her.

“What about Carly?” Marius asked. He’d noticed she wasn’t here either.

“She was likely here earlier, helping to get everything ready. Then she slips away, promising to be back for the ice cream. It means she’ll be back at the end of the party. She’s the smartest one of us, for sure,” Taylor said. “Ellen never really notices she’s gone.”

Marius huffed a laugh. 

“At least I’m not alone anymore,” Taylor said then, nudging Marius in the arm. “I’m glad you’re here, Pete.”

Marius wasn’t sure he felt the same, but, curiously, was sort of pleased by the statement. He wasn’t entirely sure why.

Ellen suddenly appeared in front of them both. Marius almost jumped in surprise—girl was like a ninja.

“I love my present, Uncle Taylor,” she said, and proceeded to hug him around the knees. Taylor just smiled, and knelt down when she let go, so she could hug him around the neck. Then she turned and held her hands up to Marius.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to do, all this being so incredibly new for him, then he knelt and picked her up so she could hug him around the neck as well.

“I love my present, Uncle Pete,” she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re my family.” She hugged him again.

Marius actually froze for a moment, his brain shorting out over that statement, so freely given by someone who knew nothing about the person he was and who also obviously didn’t care.

“I love you, too,” he said, his voice catching slightly. She grinned and he put her down. She ran off immediately, back into the melee of the party.

“Oh, wow, you’re really pale,” Taylor said to him. “You need to sit down?”

Marius just blinked at him, then grabbed the flask and took another belt. With the liquor burning his throat, he turned to Taylor.

“I gotta go,” he said, handing him back the flask. “Tell Julia I’m sorry.”

Taylor frowned slightly, but nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “It's okay. She’ll understand. It's what family does.”

Marius gave him a grateful look and then turned, finding a way to the kitchen so he could leave by the back door.

Once outside and out of sight, he leaned down with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

What the hell was he doing?

Shakily, he rounded the side of the house and stopped, surprised to find Carly leaning against the shingles, smoking weed. She lifted her eyebrows at him, but didn’t stop. In fact, she held out the joint, offering it to him.

He shook his head. “That’s okay,” he said, “I’m fine.” It wasn’t true, but he also knew the day he had in front of him, and knew it was the last thing he needed if he was going to pull of this con.

“Suit yourself,” she said, drawing another puff. She eyed him curiously as she released the smoke.

“You know,” she said, “I didn’t think you’d come.”

Marius tilted his head. “Oh yeah? Why?”

“After what you told me about your 11th birthday party, and, I’m guessing, some of the other ones you had, I didn’t think birthday parties would be your thing.” She smirked. “Unless you’re a glutton for punishment.”

He shrugged. “Well, to be honest, I didn’t think they’d be much your thing either, seeing how hard you seem to be trying to piss your family off.”

Her gaze narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t get you, Carly,” he said. “I don’t get why you think they’re not enough for you.”

She snorted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, tossing the last ashes of the joint into the grass at her feet.

“You want to know why I ran out of there?” Marius asked. 

“Because kid’s birthday parties are the seventh circle of hell?”

“No, because Ellen said she loved me.”

Carly frowned. “So?” She shrugged. “It's a family thing. She says that to all of us.”

“Exactly,” Marius said. “But she said it to me.” He shrugged. “It’s not something I’ve heard a lot in my life. No one has ever just loved me like that, without reservation or conditions. But Ellen said it, and she kissed me on the cheek, and I panicked. It was more than I’ve heard anyone say to me in a really, really long time and I didn’t know what to do. But you… You get to hear it every single day.” He shook his head. “Do you have any idea how lucky that makes you?”

She was still looking down. 

“Look,” he said, “I don’t know what happens inside that head of yours, or what deep, dramatic teenage angst is keeping you from going in there and being with your brother and sister, who both need you by the way, but it really makes no sense to me.”

Her lips pursed, and she looked up, her eyes dark.

“And what makes you the expert?” she challenged. “You haven’t been a part of this family for twenty years. You think you know all the problems we have? All the fights and messes and lies that go on? You have no idea!”

Marius sighed, but nodded. “You’re right,” he said walking up and then past her, so he could get to his car. “I don’t know. All I know is what it’s like not to have it.” 

Carly frowned, straightening from her lean on the side of the house as he walked away.

“Is that so bad, not having a family?” she demanded. “I mean, it sounds great to me, being free to do what you want. They’re always telling me what to do, thinking they knew everything about everything, when they’re as messed up as anyone. Is it really worse to not have all them constantly on your case? To not have your family always in your face?”

He stopped, his back to her, and tilted his head to listen to the soft laughter coming from the house through the windows.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “It is.”

And then continued walking, unable to look back even one more time at what he truly would never have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all I could conceivably fit in that first week. If I think of more, I'll add to this, so I'm keeping it open, but for now...
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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